Respirators (sometimes referred to as “filtering face masks” or “filtering face pieces”) are worn over the breathing passages of a person for two common purposes: (1) to prevent impurities or contaminants from entering the wearer's breathing track; and (2) to protect other persons or things from being exposed to pathogens and other contaminants exhaled by the wearer. In the first situation, the respirator is worn in an environment where the air contains particles that are harmful to the wearer, for example, in an auto body shop. In the second situation, the respirator is worn in an environment where there is risk of contamination to others persons or things, for example, in an operating room or clean room.
To achieve these purposes, the respirator must be able to maintain a snug fit when placed on the wearer's face. Known respirators can, for the most part, match the contour of a person's face over the cheeks and chin. In the nose region, however, there is a radical change in contour, which makes it difficult to achieve a snug fit over that portion of the wearer's face. Failure to obtain a snug fit allows air to enter or exit the respirator interior without passing through the filter media. In this situation, contaminants may enter the wearer's breathing track, and other persons or things may be exposed to contaminants exhaled by the wearer. In addition, a wearer's eyeglasses can become fogged when the exhalate escapes from the respirator interior over the nose region of the mask. Fogged eyewear, of course, makes visibility more troublesome to the wearer and creates unsafe conditions for the user and others.
Nose clips are commonly used on respirators to achieve a snug fit over the wearer's nose. Conventional nose clips are in the form of malleable, linear, strips of aluminum—see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,307,796, 4,600,002, 3,603,315; see also U.K. Patent Application GB 2,103,491 A. A more recent product uses an “M” shaped band of malleable metal to improve fit in the nose area—see U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,089 and Des. U.S. Pat. No. 412,573 to Castiglione. Although metal nose clips provide a snug fit over the wearer's nose, they must be individually adapted to the shape of each user's nose. To achieve a proper fit, the user often needs instructions and/or training to ensure that a proper fit is achieved. If during use, the nose clip changes from its adapted shape, the user needs to recognize this and readapt the shape of the nose clip so that there is no leakage (also known as “blow by”) around the wearer's nose during use.